Did I ever tell you I was broken? Yep, I kept myself that way so you can love me. I didn’t know any other way for you to even look at me. So if I remained out-of-order, you would come to my rescue. I was the bird with a broken wing. Never really flying very far, like a fish in its fishbowl, I was comfortable in my surroundings. I thought to myself, with my birdlike wisdom, my wing could never heal because if it healed, that meant I had to fly on my own.

Flying on my own!! That is the scariest thing imaginable. I would have to jump off a branch and trust that the wind would take me and my wings would work. Flapping them, would mean trusting myself that I can do it.. and the last time I did, I fell, and broke my beak. Things went downhill from there.

Then one day, while watching all my bird friends, fly around. I was getting quite jealous just sitting out on my perch. I was observing how much fun they were having, and how many worms they were catching. Obviously it was challenging for me with my sore wing to get worms so early. I was hungry, I was lonely and I decided I was worthless.

You haven’t seen a tree until you’ve seen its shadow from the sky. ~Amelia Earhart

The other birds felt bad, and sometimes they would come and share their bounty with me, yet, a few birds, the ones that hang out on the wire would sing behind my back. They often had weddings there, and I was never invited. I heard them talk about me saying how lazy I was, that if I just worked harder at fixing myself I could have a better life. This is when I started believing I needed to be put back together. However, who would do that?

I also had my friends, the blue birds, they would always cheer me on and tell me that everything is going to be alright. They complemented me on my style, and how they loved the single purple feather which lined my wings. They told me to believe in myself, that sooner or later I would fly just like them.

As much as they loved me, I often never received their love with open arms. I thought it would be easier to lay low in my nest, hoping for a visit once and awhile.

Then one day, my wing hurt so bad, I went to scoop up a juicy worm, and I fell 10 feet below heading towards my death. I couldn’t get the nerve to flap my wings, and started to let myself fall. Then, low and behold a raven swooped by and picked me up. He told me he saw me falling from miles away and couldn’t let such a beautiful bird die. That’s when I turned to him and said: Can you help me? Can you teach me how to fly like you do?

He complied right away, and we started flying lessons the next day. As the days grew longer and the nights grew warmer, I felt my strength come back. I felt like a hawk! Ready to face the air! Ready to swoop over huge mountains.

The birds around me started flocking my way. I finally was invited on the electrical wire to the morning dove’s wedding. How wonderful.

Then it hit me, I was never EVER broken.. I was always whole. I just needed to listen to myself, to my teachers, and to my birdly instincts all along. And KNOW that the Universe is always there, guiding me and supporting me every single beat of my wings!